Courtney Lum

In many ways I feel as though Shakespeare had created his characters to be very one dimensional. Othello is characterized a good natured man, who’s naivety and trust will ultimately be his demise, meanwhile Iago is pure evil who’s only characteristics support that by him being manipulative, untrustworthy, and deceitful. Since the characters are given such simple personalities it is extremely easy to distinguish the protagonist/ tragic hero (which in this play would be Othello) and the antagonist who will most likely cause his demise (which would be Iago). Yet given such simple characteristics, the plot is seemingly complex, for it an intricate love conflict in which Othello has married the woman Roderigo lusts for, so Iago, who has been helping Roderigo in his pursuit of the lady and also hates Othello for his own reasons, plots against him.